The Sister
by Confuzd Lives
Summary: Scarlet knows that Mark is actually Mike, but she has yet to decide if she will accept his apology and accept him back. Meanwhile, the spirit guide magic allows Mike to stay 17 in case Scar doesn't take him back -- and then there's Delilah. AU. Alex/OC


I stumbled down the stairs in a sleep-deprived state and meandered to the kitchen. The smell of coffee was calling to me. Of course, it wasn't until I was standing in the doorway blinking the sleep from my eyes seeing a blurry form that I definitely didn't recognize that I remembered that Ned doesn't drink coffee and I hadn't set the timer the night before.

She stood in front of the counter stirring the coffee in her mug. The mug was blue. Ned's collection of mugs all matched except for that one and he never used it. Strange.

"Um, who are you?" I asked.

The girl jumped and turned quickly her honey brown eyes wide in shock. "Oh Goddess!" she gasped her hand flying to her mouth. It was at that point that I became quite self-conscious of what I was wearing, which was just my pajama pants.

"Sorry, I didn't hear you come in." She picked up the blue mug and settled herself at one of the barstools. She cupped her mug in both hands and turned her eyes back to me. At this point I realized how pretty she is. She had wavy espresso brown hair that seemed to accent the color of her eyes brilliantly. "Can I help you?" she asked distracting me from the fact that she seemed both pretty and familiar.

"Ah – I – Do I know you?"

"I don't think so… I'm Delilah. So, hun, how'd you get in here?"

"How'd I get in? You're the one that snuck in here."

She laughed a warm bubbling belly laugh, "Do I look like I just busted into the house? As though I've never been in here before? Not likely. Ned doesn't even drink coffee. Why'd he keep Foldger's in his freezer?"

The unmistakable rev of the Lamborghini roared outside as Ned returned from whatever it was he had been doing earlier.

"You look familiar," she stated echoing my own thoughts as she squinted at me. "Have we met - ?"

"Day! Is that you!" called a voice as the front door slammed shut. Ned strode into the room smiling broadly as his eyes lit on the strange girl.

"You're home!" Day jumped up from the barstool and threw her arms around Ned. Then commence with what appeared to be a reunion in which both seemed very happy to see each other. It was, of course, at that point that I realized why Delilah looked familiar; she looked quite a bit like Ned.

"I feel as though I am missing something here," I said.

Ned parted from the young girl's embrace and cast me a guilty look before turning to the fridge. Delilah returned to her stool and returned to looking at me – which I found a bit awkward.

"Mark, this is Delilah – my daughter."

"Your daughter? You have a daughter! You never told me. Wait, how old are you?" I shot the question at her and she seemed slightly startled, though I didn't give her a chance to answer before continuing. "She's gotta be about as old as Maggie. I can't believe you didn't tell me!"

"I didn't know." Ned leaned against the far counter and watched me with guilty honey brown eyes. Yup, same brown eyes. "I met her mother at a comi-con."

"Comi-con?"

"Comic convention."

"Oh."

"We, well, we-"

"PLEASE, spare us the details, Ned," Day interrupted sparing Ned his own discomfort.

"She didn't tell me that I got her pregnant, until about six years later when I started getting money and appearing in some magazines. Day comes to visit every summer for a couple of random weekends."

"Or the rest of the school year."

"Why? What'd you do?" Suddenly, Ned's attention was on Day, and for once I saw Ned being, well, an adult: a father.

"Nothing! I had NOTHING to do with the fire. Honestly, Suzi just framed me. She was trying to make a point, though I agreed with it whole-heartedly. There are online programs for dissection for a reason."

"You burnt the SCHOOL!"

"NO! I was FRAMED. You know me better than that. I don't destroy to make a point; I get a huge ass protest started. But to keep the school from pushing I told mom I'd come here."

"And she's okay with that?"

"Do you really think so? But I'm eighteen, I can do whatever I want. If I really wanted, I could drop out -"

"Don't you even think about it –"

"But I would like to actually make something of my life." There was the shortest beat of silence before Day dived into a topic change. "So, who's pretty boy?"

"This is Mark." Ned gestured at me as though he was distracted and wanted to return to the previous conversation, but suddenly seemed to decide to drop the subject.

"Oh, I was really hoping you were going to tell me the truth."

"What are you talking about?" I asked. Truthfully, I was starting to feel a bit left out.

"Please, there are a handful of senior year high school pictures around the house; it took me a minute to figure out why I recognized you, but once I did, it made sense."

"What?"

"Oh please. You can stop the charade. You're Uncle Mike." She seemed quite sure of herself and I glanced at Ned. Ned was watching us with a slightly open mouth.

"Uncle Mike is thirty-four. Do I look thirty-four to you?"

Day slid her mug across the bar toward Ned who picked it up and filled it with coffee. He stirred two spoonfuls of sugar into the coffee as Day continued her conversation with me. "No, you most certainly do not. You look younger than me."

I blinked at that. Well, she had said eighteen and I was only seventeen, my birthday was three months away.

"But you definitely look like the picture of Mike in his senior year." Ned gently pushed the mug to her and she smiled warmly up at him as she wrapped her hands around the fresh cup. I realized that though I had never met Delilah and therefore knew Ned didn't see her very often, Ned was closer to his daughter than I had ever been to both of my children combined. "I've heard a bit about the family problems you've been having from Dad. It makes sense that you would be given a chance to see what is wrong and to try to fix it. A chance by magic is a bit random, admittedly."

It was at that exact minute that the room was filled with the gruff voice of Bob Dylan singing Rainy Day Women. "EVERYBODY GET STONED!"

"Excuse me," Day said as she pulled a slim flip phone from her pants pocket. She checked the ID before flipping it open. "Hey!" she answered brightly. "Yeah. I'm home safe…" She walked out of the kitchen, phone glued to her ear, mug in hand.

I finally moved from the entryway of the kitchen and collapsed on the stool Day had just vacated. "You have a daughter?" I asked. It sounded like a question, but it really was more of a statement.

"Yep," Ned replied needlessly.

"She believes in magic? Isn't that a bit naïve?"

"It would be if it weren't for that fact that she's Wiccan. She believes everyone and everything has an energy that can be used in a way most people would consider magic."

I stared at Ned for a minute. "You're daughter's a witch?" I asked. I had heard of the Wiccan religion though I had yet to meet anyone that practiced the old religion. Honestly, I was a bit curious. It sounded like a peaceful religion, even though I was perfectly comfortable believing in my God. He may have made my life difficult lately, but I believed he was there.

"That's what I said." Ned frowned. "Sorry I never told you. There just never seemed to be a good time. And its not as though I see her very often."

"I guess I understand," I mused aloud. "Ned, if she's going to be going to school, what about my cover?"

"I guess you just got a sister," Ned replied with a smile.


End file.
